Business Recorder

ARTICLE: The year 2019-20 saw a return for some months to double-digit inflation for the first time after 2011-12....

ARTICLE: The Federal Budget for 2020-21 is unfortunately not as very well-crafted or well-presented as some previous...

ARTICLE: The objective of this article is to highlight the key features of the Federal and Provincial Budgets for...

ARTICLE: The Pakistan Economic Survey of 2019-20 gives the preliminary estimate of the GDP growth rate this year. It...

ARTICLE: There is the likelihood of a significant deterioration in the financial position of the Provincial...

ARTICLE: The IMF has developed a budgetary framework from 2020-21 to 2024-25 for Pakistan as part of the report for...

The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) has revealed the final estimate of the GDP growth rate for 2018-19 and the preliminary estimate of the GDP growth rate for 2019-20. This is contrary to the past practice whereby GDP estimates were included in the Pa

The Federal and Provincial Budgets for 2020-21 are expected to be announced in the month of June, starting with the presentation of the Federal Budget on the 5th of June. These budgets come at a time when the economy has been badly hit by the COVID-19 and

The key macroeconomic variables of the national economy are beginning to show sharply divergent trends from those observed earlier since June 2019. This includes developments in the real economy, monetary sector, inflation, public finances and the balance

The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) has recently released the key findings from two major surveys - the Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement Survey (PSLSMS) and the Household Integrated Economic Survey (HIES) - of 2018-19. These efforts at

The Coronavirus is going to have an adverse impact on the living standard of millions of families in Pakistan. Households which are already poor will suffer further deprivation. As the GDP growth rate plummets and actually falls in absolute magnitude, the

The much-awaited Monetary Policy Statement (MPS) of the SBP was released a few days ago. It contains a review of the state of the economy and an assessment of the short-run prospects, based on which the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has decided on the p

The Mid-term Budget Review of 2019-20 was presented recently to the National Assembly. The outcome in the first six months reveals success in limiting the primary deficit and achieving the target agreed with the IMF. In fact, a primary surplus has been ac

There has been a noticeable drop in the rate of inflation on a year-to-year basis. The national Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 14.6 percent in January 2020. It has fallen by 2.2 percentage points to 12.4 percent in February 2020. However, it is p

The shortfall in FBR revenues is likely to reach a record level this year. The magnitude of this shortfall will be the prime determinant of the extent to which the primary deficit in the budget diverges from the target level agreed with the IMF for 2019-2

The previous financial year closed with the largest ever budget deficit. The magnitude was Rs 3,445 billion, equivalent to 8.9 percent of the GDP. The increase in relation to 2017-18 was 2.3 percent of the GDP. This severe deterioration in the state of pu

The IMF staff review of the Extended Fund Facility has been completed and a press statement issued. There is need to appreciate efforts of the government in meeting all the six performance criteria again as was the case in the first programme review. This

The article last week by me had assessed the projections made for 2019-20 by the IMF staff following the First Review. This article analyses the projections for the last two years of the Program, 2020-21 and 2021-22. The IMF projections for the next two y

The first review report prepared by the IMF staff became available in late-December 2019. This followed the successful completion by Pakistan of this review. All the performance criteria were met. This has improved perceptions about the extent of success

Pakistan's external debt and liabilities first crossed the level of $100 billion in March 2019. Consequently, the external debt to GDP ratio reached the peak of over 36 percent. Bulk of this debt is public in nature and accounts currently for almost 80 pe